The first project employs the two-photon microscope with the aim to study single proteins within the excitation volume. In order to observe the same protein molecule over extended periods of time a fixation technique is needed to prevent diffusion of the molecules out of the observation volume. tethering of proteins to surfaces was compared to encapsulating the molecules within gels. Specifically a sol-gel with very low fluorescent background counts was studied. The second project involves the development of a new instrument to detect single molecules on the basis of apertureless near-field imaging. The instrument was assembled and initial tests to characterize its perfomance were conducted.